Obvious Deceptions Cause Liaoning TV Station's "News" to Become a Local Laughing Stock

In July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime started to illegally persecute Falun Gong, and an abundance of slanderous propaganda in various areas began to appear. Zhang Dianguo, a villager of group seven from Yijia village, Baoli town, Changtu County, Tieling City in Liaoning Province had practiced Falun Gong previously, but he was afraid of being persecuted by the local lawless personnel. So in mid November 1999, he went against his conscience and cooperated with Liaoning Province Television Broadcasting Station, Tieling Television Broadcasting Station, and the wicked people in the local county, town and village to help produce propaganda.

The content of the propaganda was roughly as follows: It was claimed that Zhang Dianguo "did not have a proper occupation after practicing Falun Gong. He neglected his vegetable farming and his family became poor. After the local government educated and transformed him, he set his heart to not practicing Falun Gong anymore. The local government helped his family become prosperous and helped them grow corn, plant potatoes, rear pigs and chickens, etc."

When the television reporter recorded the video at his home, Zhang Dianguo held a big white sweet potato in his hand and referred it as a potato (because at that time there were no big potatoes). He used it as an example to illustrate how the local government helped him grow such "big potatoes." The reporter also went to the front yard in the residence of another person, Yu Yongsheng, to videotape scenes of feeding pigs, and to the residence of the village chief to videotape scenes of chickens grazing. At that time, the crowds gathered around did not know what was happening. But not long afterwards, in the news program of the Liaoning Television Station and Chinese Central Television Station, it was claimed that the scenes of pigs and chickens feeding took place at the residence of Zhang Dianguo, and this was used to illustrate the "dramatic change" that came over him after he stopped practicing Falun Gong.

It can be said that the television station personnel, in order to fulfill the task handed down by their superiors, which was to fabricate propaganda to slander Falun Gong, had used many deceptive means. The "news" of "passing off a sweet potato as a potato" by the Liaoning TV Central TV stations was ridiculous and far-fetched. This incident caused quite a stir among the local residents. The news program became a laughing stock, and all the villagers said, "From now on, don't believe what you see on TV!"